Fiore

Like Daphne, the young teenage girl in trouble in Fiore, Claudio Giovannesi's film could go in one of two directions. It could be a raw and hard-hitting drama about the problems faced by youths left with no direction, or it could take a more positive spin and show that there is always a chance and hope of redemption. Somehow, quite pleasantly and surprisingly, Giovannesi manages to take the second option by way of the first without giving away any of the essence or purpose of the film to an unrealistic outcome.

Daphne (Daphne Scoccia) has been left to fend for herself on the streets of Milan resorting to theft and petty crime to earn money, but eventually she gets caught stealing phones and has to spend some time in a prison for young offenders. We discover that Daphne has been in such institutions before and that her father has had problems of his own with the law. As he is trying to get back on his feet with a new family, he's not in a position to help Daphne get early probationary release, so Daphne has no option to make the best of it. An MP3 player makes life a little more bearable.

So too does an unlikely romance that Daphne strikes up with Josh (Josciua Algeri), a boy in the male wing of the prison who she first meets in the infirmary. Inevitably, in such a place, the romance is quite unconventional and Josh and Daphne have to resort to passing messages and sharing furtive looks through bars and rails. But finding something, finding someone, finding hope to cling onto is what is most important, and Daphne is determined to find a way, even if that means finding a way out of the prison.

Fiore is about youth and youthful passions. Daphne is not bad, she's just been neglected, left without direction and guidance on how to control those passions. It's so much more difficult to manage them within the rules, restrictions and sometimes cruel whims of prison officers, but it's important that those energies are channelled towards something positive. That's exactly what Claudio Giovannesi does in Fiore. He doesn't pretend that it's going to be plain sailing and doesn't ignore the reality of the difficulties faced by young people like Daphne and Josh, but he and Daphne Scoccia manage to tap into the true heart of the film's teenage tearaway and let that inner impulse for hope drive the film to a more optimistic - but by no means ideal - conclusion.

This is not just about prison life, this is about society or the inability to "cure" an adult/kid who came of the wrong path. It is difficult of course and it is also difficult to feel for the main character here. There seems no remorse, there seems no will to learn from ones mistakes. But that would miss a major point. The one of feeling left alone that is.

Having said that and being all up in her face (almost literally) and all over her in general (there is nudity, but never sexualised rather cold and distant), this is a powerhouse performance. It won't make it more entertaining for those looking for a thrill. It might make explain some things for those looking for answers. You won't really find many of those, but find many questions. A bland look then...

The weirdest thing about this film is the title: fiore. It means "flower" but for the whole length of the movie we don't get to see any or even hear the word. Except for the star of the movie (a non-pro actress) whose real and fictional names are both daphne, which is the botanical name of a genus of shrubs. Intentionally or not when the closing titles are over we can't avoid thinking about both the film and the lead actress as a flower, young and wounded, bold and frail, beautiful and venomous, facing destruction and still faithful to her nature.

She is great. She doesn't steal the focus of the viewer, she doesn't overact. She's perfect as a confused, bewildered, passionate, abandoned adolescent looking for her place and something nice and meaningful to do. The plot, the photography, the writing, even the soundtrack: everything seems very simple or - better - essential; flowerish - again. Yet the realism level is quite high: very good job to the writers, the director and the actors.

The director's agenda (he gave interviews about it) is to show how pointless is putting young "criminals" into a prison. While the next question to this main topic rests unanswered (then what should we do?) in the film, I really liked how he showed why his perspective deserves to be pondered (if not adopted) by a wider audience. Unfortunately very few will have access to this film: but if you have a chance, you should watch it. 8

This movie is in Italian, I had to watch it with English subtitles and I'm glad came across it on Netflix. It's an unconventional story about two people who don't meet under the best of circumstances but that is what helps them connect in some manner. I'm not going to give away the plot, all I am going to say is watch this movie if you get a chance, you won't regret it.